Just a tip for the driveway. Set them back in the driveway far enough for the once in a blue moon driver that find themselves going the wrong way and will pull into your driveway just far enough to turn around.
@mweston I might not have explained about the ZFM-80 enough. The dry contacts on the side are for another way to trip the relay (beam alarm) so you can either push the built in button or let the beam do it.
Also have a mode on Smartthings where tripping the relay does nothing, there will be times you will have people over for a BBQ or whatever and people are constantly coming and going. You will want to silence this 
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I wonder if something like this would work. My application is just to know if someone is coming up the front steps to the house with little to no false positives. Plus the ZFM-80. The other ones look huge and would likely not be ascetically acceptable to the wife.
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I’ll share this for anyone interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z3810t3nbU
This seems to be the simplest way to set something like this set up. I like that the sensors are battery powered so you dont have to worry about running wires and finding a power source.
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That is not a laser trip, that is just a motion detector that is connected via rf to a zwave open/close sensor.
You can do this exact same thing, cheaper and with less steps with any z-wave/zigbee motion detector (30-50$ per device)
The only advantage I can see doing it this way would be is if those motion detectors are of superior outdoor build quality and superior sensitivity quality.
For me a laser trip would be the best. I have 2 aeon motion sensors outside in shaded areas that do not get direct sunlight, turned to the lowest sensitivity possible and they are btoh active all day long w/out reason, they work almost as expected at night.
@acastal those look perfect for just a set of stairs. With only one beam you might get a false from a falling leaf, however, nothing like the false alarm from any motion detector I’ve ever tried
True, in reading about the Dakota Alert and the reviews on Amazon it looks like everyone is saying they get virtually no false alarms but I’ve never used it before.
I had an Aeon motion sensor outside also but it was going off way too much.
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Can you explain the wiring a little more? What powers the transmitter and receiver (doorbell transformer?) and were do the alarm contacts wire into the ZFM-80?
@acastal
My beams are powered by my alarm panel, just 2 wires, no alarm panel? Just use a power supply (wall wort) probably 12v. Check your documtation that comes with the beam you chose.
The ZFM 80 gets its power from house current, the alarm wires from the beam then attach to the ZFM 80. Go to the link below and have a look at the pdf.
https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/202088954-What-is-a-Remotec-ZFM-80-15-Amp-Dry-Contact-Module-
I ordered that single beam sensor above, a doorbell transformer (since the beam sensor says it deals with AC) and the ZFM-80. Just waiting on the beam, should be here tomorrow. I’m still unclear if the beam hooks to the switch or the relay(load) on the ZFM. I’ll report back if/when i get it working.
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Beam connects to the switch. Not the load of the relay. Double check the power supply to the beam
so the ZFM should have the black load wire going to L and the white neutral wire going to N, the two middle contacts will be unused, and the right two switch contacts will run to the alarm contacts of the beam?
Then just figure out NC/NO and I’m off to the races?
I don’t have the beam manual but online it says “Power Supply : DC/AC 12 to 24V”. I took this to mean it could deal with 16V AC, but maybe not?
Yes… The load part of the relay (in this application) is not used. For testing I just wired an old lamp plug to the power of the ZFM 80. Beams to the switch side. I’m still not sure on the power of the beams, they are low voltage but I believe you need to know the amps.
I don’t have one but I would assume since it is a driveway sensor and other people have been using it outside it would be ok.
I have it working with the single beam sensor. At least in the garage. I used a cat5 cable to carry the power and alarm contacts to the ZFM and power. AC to DC converter for the power (even though it says AC is okay hooking the doorbell transformer was too much of a PITA). The single beam sensor is quite small and will hopefully pass the WAF.
A 12v AC to DC converter (I had one in a box).
- Hook up AC power to the contact switch.
- Hook up the DC power to the beam (both sides)
- Hook the beam outputs to the (not relay) switch contacts from the receiver side of the beam (the transmitter side does not have anything but power).
- Don’t blow up your contact switch because you were too lazy not to turn off the power first.
I chose Normally Open so the switch shows off when not tripped and on when tripped.
You can use the photo burst app to take pictures from your camera when the beam is tripped.
I’m trying to figure out a way to have the photo sent via a smart app or maybe IFTTT. Right now i am using IFTTT to send email when it trips and in the attachment field I have a link to the current photo. It seems to be working okay. I would rather do an MMS with the photo attached but have not figured out how to do that yet. As far as I can tell the ST Multisensor acceleration/vibration can’t be used as a trigger in IFTTT so this will not work for my doorbell sensor. I’ll keep plugging away.
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You can add it to your reply directly.
Create a post for this from yourself so everyone can find this project.
@Acastal Thanks for posting the instructions. I am planning to do the same.
Can anyone please post a picture (or a bit more description) of the connections between the beam and the Contact switch. I am not very good with these contact switches, so unclear as to which connections from the beam should go to which connectors on the ZFM-80?
Appreciate any help. Thanks.
Satinder